News Release

‘Gulf War Syndrome’ Expert To Speak at UTD Feb. 25

Dr. Robert Haley Will Discuss Controversial Disorder

RICHARDSON, Texas (Feb. 10, 2005) — Dr. Robert Haley, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and an acknowledged expert on Gulf War Syndrome, will give a lecture on the controversial disorder on Friday, Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m., in the McDermott Library Auditorium (MC 2.410) at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). A 3:15 reception will precede the talk.

Gulf War Syndrome is a medical condition of uncertain origin that has affected many veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. It is characterized by fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, rashes, joint pain and respiratory problems.

Dr. Robert Haley, an acknowledged expert on
Gulf War Syndrome,
will give a lecture on the
controversial disorder at UTD's McDermott Library.

Haley’s lecture, titled “Gulf War Syndrome: Science at the Interface with Politics,” will focus on his efforts to answer the increasing number of complaints by veterans who served in the Gulf War. His research analyzes the effects of DEET insect repellant, pesticides in flea collars and variances in susceptibility to Sarin nerve gas exposure, and he has published reports on the nature of the illness, its chemical causes and the biological mechanism of the disease in top peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Haley, who is the director of the Division of Epidemiology in the Internal Medicine Department at UT Southwestern and holds the U.S. Armed Forces Veterans Distinguished Chair for Medical Research Honoring America’s Gulf War Veterans, received his B.A. in philosophy and social sciences from Southern Methodist University and his M.D. from UT Southwestern.

He spent 10 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, serving as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. Haley founded the Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at UT Southwestern in 1983. At UT Southwestern, he directs courses in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, computing and disease prevention for medical students and practicing physicians, teaches research design in the university’s research methods course for graduate students and junior faculty and lectures widely about disease epidemiology and prevention. He is certified as a specialist by the American Board of Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the American College of Epidemiology and served as a senior editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Haley is listed in the book The Best Doctors in America and has published articles in more than 100 articles in scientific journals.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is being presented jointly by UTD’s Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, the Center for BrainHealth and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Seating is limited. For additional information, please call 972-883-4870.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.